


Loveline

by writersethos



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: M/M, Ulrich is super defensive and edgy (just how i like him), Underage Drinking, Willrich AU, angsty romance, ulrich says fuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 06:23:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19290010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersethos/pseuds/writersethos
Summary: Ulrich and William have been butting heads over Yumi ever since William arrived at Kadic. So what happens when the two opposing sides of a love triangle have a drink together in the park?





	Loveline

**Author's Note:**

> This fic starts very v e r y shortly after season 3 begins, and I'm just going to refer to it as my Willrich AU as hopefully I'll write more for them in the future. I also moved everyone up a grade (Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich are in 10th grade, William and Yumi are in 11th) because I refuse to accept their canon ages. Enjoy!

It was evening at Kadic, and for once Jeremie actually joined Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich instead of staying locked up in the computer lab. He and Aelita were babbling about how to track down XANA on the web and Odd was scarfing down his food as usual, but Ulrich was quiet. Granted, he wasn’t the most talkative member of the group to begin with, but it was still strange that he’d hardly uttered a word since he sat down.

Eventually, Jeremie noticed his silence and said, “Hey, Ulrich, is something the matter?”

Ulrich’s face flushed. He’d been in his head the entire time and being snapped back into reality disoriented him. He said, “Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing. My dad is just trying his best to ruin my life like usual. He’s threatening to withdraw me from Kadic.” The rest of the group gasped.

“You don’t actually think he’s going to pull you out, do you?” asked Odd.

Ulrich scoffed and said, “No way. The only thing he cares about more than himself is his money. He wouldn’t unenroll me in the middle of the year if he already paid for it.”

Aelita looked up sympathetically. “You know Ulrich, you could always try being a little nicer to him. I think he really cares about you.”

It took everything in Ulrich to keep himself from laughing in her face at that, but instead all that came out was a small snort. “Wow, thanks Aelita. Why didn’t I think of that.” It came out harsh, but he wasn’t wrong. Why did he have to be nice to a man who has done nothing but bring him down his entire life? The only time he’d ever seen his father be affectionate was at his soccer match, and that was only because they were about to die. It had been nearly a year since then, and the return trip erased his dad’s memory of the XANA attack anyways, so it was like it hadn’t even happened to him.

Even though it was clear Ulrich wasn’t very interested in the turn the conversation was taking, Aelita continued, “I mean, really, Ulrich. I’ve never heard you say anything positive about him and I’m sure he doesn’t mean any harm.” She didn’t really understand why Ulrich was so negative towards his father. Maybe it was just because she’d been practically an orphan for two years, ever since Jeremie had reactivated the supercomputer. She’d only known for a few months that she actually had any parents to begin with.

“Well that’s easy for you to say. You’ve never even met him, and you don’t exactly have any experience with family problems.”

Oops. As soon as he said it, he felt like an asshole. It had only been a few months since her father had sacrificed the little strength he had to bring Aelita back to life after the Scyphozoa had taken all of her memories. She spent most of her summer break going through all of her human memories and refused to believe that her dad was truly gone. Aelita wasn’t someone who angered or got upset quickly, but he’d managed it this time.

“Aelita, I-”

She immediately cut him off. “You know what, Ulrich? I _don’t_ have experience with family problems, or even families at all! I hardly even _remember_ my mother! My father may not even be alive thanks to XANA!” She went to continue, but her breath hitched. It was the first time she had verbally acknowledged that her dad was most likely gone. Her hand quickly covered her mouth, and tears welled in her eyes. Forcing her hand back down, she shakily said, “You _have_ a mom who loves you, and a dad who, regardless of if he’s not the best sometimes, is _alive_ , and not potentially lost because of some crazy computer virus!”

Ulrich felt even worse when he realized he’d made Aelita cry and was about to drop their argument entirely and apologize, but when she downplayed his father’s erratic behavior his anger rose back up through him. It was enough for him to have to live through his own personal hell crafted by his father, but it was another to have someone he trusted downplay his suffering. “ _’Sometimes not the best’_!? My ‘father’ is a sorry, emotionally abusive and depressed alcoholic who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. And my mother lets him! She’s never once stood up against him. I haven’t even seen or heard from him in almost a year unless he’s calling to berate me once a month! I wish I could get away from my parents, but unfortunately I can’t, so, sorry that I’m not overly enthusiastic about them.”

Somewhere between the ‘doesn’t care about anyone but himself’ and ‘I wish I didn’t have parents’ part of his speech, he realized that most of the people in the cafeteria were now staring at Aelita and himself. She was more discreet about being upset, but he was almost yelling at that point. One of the people he unfortunately noticed looking at him was William, who seemed to look… sympathetic, almost? Either way, Ulrich was done with the conversation and didn’t want to be around anyone anymore. He groaned and quickly swiped his tray up, cleared it off, and left the cafeteria.

Ulrich knew if he went back to his dorm room, Odd would probably follow him shortly after and want to talk about what happened. Instead, he strolled over to the park to take a walk. Hopefully, by the time he was feeling calm again, Odd would either be in the showers or asleep. He got bored of wandering through the park quickly, though, and settled for climbing up a tree and laying on a branch to just sit and think for a while.

He was in the tree for only a few minutes before he heard footsteps coming towards him.

“Hey, uh… Ulrich?” It was William.

“Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me right now.” The last person Ulrich wanted to talk to right now was William, yet here he was, harassing Ulrich from the ground. Ulrich slowly sat up, looking at William as if he actually thought looks could kill. “What do you want, William? Is constantly fighting with me over Yumi not good enough for you, so now you have to come harass me after what happened in the cafeteria?”

William furrowed his brow, then sighed and said, “Look, I just wanted to talk, alright? I know what it’s like to have parents that are disappointed in you, that’s all.”

Ulrich laughed and jumped down from the tree branch. “I don’t exactly think my dad being an awful parent is the same as your parents wanting you to be tame for once.” He slid his back against the tree until he was sitting on the grass with his legs out. Clearly William wasn’t going to leave him alone, so he might as well get comfortable. “Besides, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re not exactly the first person I would go to with my problems.”

Leaning forward, William replied, “Well, that’s perfect then, right? You can complain about your problems and don’t have to worry about your friends saying anything.” He slouched down against the tree and ended up sitting quite close to Ulrich, who then looked over and saw William… taking two beer bottles out of his book bag. Of course.

Ulrich scoffed incredulously in response. “Really, you came here to get drunk and talk about daddy issues? How did you even get alcohol anyways?”

Almost too nonchalantly, William just gave a lighthearted laugh and shoved one of the beers into Ulrich’s hands before cracking his own open. “Daddy issues are always something to drink to, man. As for how I got it, you do realize I’m eighteen, right?” Ulrich gawked at that.

“Eighteen? Aren’t you a junior, like Yumi? You should be like, sixteen or seventeen.”

“Well, having an early birthday _and_ being held back a grade will do that to you.”

Abysmal grades were one of the many things he and William could both relate to, even if they both tried to deny it. But instead of thinking about school and grades, Ulrich took a swig of the beer. He then proceeded to almost immediately spit it out. His nose crinkled and he said, “Eugh, why is this so strong? It shouldn’t taste like that.”

“What, can’t handle a stronger beer?” William almost exclusively drank things that had a higher alcohol percentage. “How would you know what it tastes like, anyways?”

“Well, having an alcoholic father means that sometimes, you get to have some. _If_ you’re lucky enough to not be his target for the day.”

“I can drink to that.” William held up his beer bottle. Ulrich just scoffed and jokingly clinked his own bottle against it. As Ulrich tried to actually take a drink of it, William said, “So, what’s up with your old man anyways; I mean, has he always been like that?”

Ulrich sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about this, but it beat just sitting in silence by himself like he had planned, and it _certainly_ beat going back to the dorms. “Yeah, he’s a major asshole. I’ve never seen him be actually happy, and it seems he’s just gotten angrier since I’ve been attending Kadic. I don’t know what his deal is! Maybe I’m just not good enough for him.”

A silence fell over the two after that, with them just drinking and – most surprisingly – enjoying each other’s company for once. Ulrich knew dinner in the cafeteria had ended by then as he saw silhouettes of students walking back to the dorms, and he knew Jim would absolutely demolish them if he found them in the middle of the park after curfew, _especially_ since they were drinking. But he felt like he could sit there with William forever. No Lyoko, no fighting XANA and its monsters, and no worrying about whether or not he was dating Yumi every five seconds. He’d gotten used to his routine, but never actually had the opportunity to decide if he even _liked_ that routine.

All of this made Ulrich both resent and envy William. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as Ulrich thought.

During the silence, William tilted his head back against the tree and took some time to think. He and Ulrich had never really gotten along well. Even when he had invited Ulrich to join the go-karting club, he’d only ever gone to a few events with the club before quietly backing out of it. When the two weren’t butting heads with each other over Yumi, they actually got along quite well. The more he thought about it, the more he got confused about their situation with Yumi. Turning his head slightly to face Ulrich, he said, “Hey, why haven’t you made a move on Yumi yet?”

Ulrich gritted his teeth. “Do you _want_ to get into a fight right now?” It wouldn’t have been the first time they fought, not that William would have remembered that one anyways.

He just laughed it off, though. He doubted that Ulrich would do anything, and he seemed like such a lightweight that he was probably already out of it by now. “Chill, I’m being serious! You’ve known each other for years and there’s clearly something going on. I’m just curious. That’s all.”

After sitting and thinking for a bit, Ulrich just sighed. “Yeah, we’ve known each other for a long time, but we’re always going back and forth. One day we’re together, the next day we aren’t. We’re always getting jealous of each other but then we never even figure out what we actually are. Now… now she wants to be ‘just friends, and that’s all’.”

That left William speechless; he honestly thought that the two were on better terms. He groaned and said, “Oh, man. That blows. I’m really sorry Ulrich. You know…” He opened his mouth to continue, but he wasn’t sure what to say. Ulrich was someone he actually really liked and respected, even if they did bicker constantly. After some thought, he continued, “I won’t go after Yumi anymore if you don’t want me to. I know what it’s like to want someone and not be able to have them.”

Ulrich was… surprised, to say the least. Was his slightly buzzed state messing with his hearing? He and William had been butting heads over Yumi almost since the day he arrived at Kadic, and now he was just going to give up now that he finally had his chance? As much as he would have jumped at the chance and told William to stay away from Yumi forever, the alcohol clouded his brain just enough to where he felt cruel considering that as an option. “You don’t… you don’t have to do that. It wouldn’t be fair, and she’s clearly trying to move on so you might as well go for it.”

There was another period of silence, albeit shorter this time. They could both feel the tension in the air, but unlike their sober selves who would have immediately confronted it, the two just sat there, letting it surround them. By now, both boys had almost finished their drinks and could feel a strong buzz. Ulrich was significantly more affected by it seeing as he only rarely got to actually drink, whereas William drank semi-frequently.

As Ulrich’s brain tried to keep up with the alcohol, William’s thoughts drifted along a winding path. He really liked being around Ulrich. Like, _really_ liked being around him. William thought he was pretty cool and regretted how much their dumb love triangle had ruined a potential friendship. Slowly, William’s hand made its way towards Ulrich’s. He hesitated for a split second but soon came to rest his hand gently over the other boy’s.

Ulrich’s face flushed, turning a bright red as he felt his body temperature skyrocket. Was this fervor because of the alcohol or…? He went to pull his hand away but froze when he looked at William.

“I’m always here if you need to talk, Ulrich. Even if your friends don’t really ‘get’ your problems, I’ll still listen.” William was slowly leaning in now, his drunkenness stopping any potential flashing red warning signs that were trying to reach his brain.

Ulrich didn’t know how to process what was happening. He didn’t want it to _not_ happen, but he also wasn’t sure of anything anymore. His brain was misfiring at every possible level, and all he could say was, “I-… Yeah. Thanks.”

The gap between the two closed after what felt like an agonizing eternity. Slowly, their lips collided, and Ulrich’s brain silenced completely. He quickly melted into William and they embraced. It was soft and sweet, but short. As quickly as it started, it was over. Both of them pulled away from the kiss, realized what had just happened, and scrambled to get as far away from each other as possible.

Ulrich stood up, stared at William, and said, “Oh my _fucking_ god.”

William was less freaked out about it, quickly getting up to walk towards Ulrich. “Hey, that wasn’t so bad, right? _I_ liked it, at least.” Ulrich was having none of it though, and quickly walked past him in the direction of the dorms. Before he could get past William, the older boy grabbed his arm. “Ulrich, calm down, I won’t tell anyone. I’m bi, so it’s okay if you’re gay or whatever-”

He was immediately cut off by Ulrich, who yanked his arm away from William before he said, “I’m not gay, okay!”

William just rolled his eyes and said, “I don’t care if you’re bi, either, duh.”

That remark just made Ulrich even more upset. “ _I’m not that either!_ Just leave me alone, William. Please. I need to be by myself.” As Ulrich turned towards the dorms, he saw someone standing just on the edge of the park trail and the campus. He squinted his eyes and realized… it was Odd. Odd, who was probably worriedly looking for Ulrich, had just seen him and William drunkenly make out in the middle of the night. In some ways, he was relieved, because it could have been someone far worse like Sissi or even Herb, who would inevitably try to fight Ulrich to no avail. It also made him ten thousand times more upset, though, because he knew as soon as Odd was within earshot, he would start trying to play one million fucking questions with Ulrich.

So instead, like any illogical drunk teenager would do, he completely bolted away from William, past Odd, and to the dorms. He ran up the stairs and immediately locked himself in their room, out of breath – not just from running, but from the entire situation that just occurred. Odd tried to follow him, but his scrawniness lived up to its hype and he was quickly outran. He didn’t have his dorm key with him either – and let’s be honest, when does he ever – so he had to resort to banging on the door and hoping that Ulrich would let him in.

Odd kept this up for several minutes. He banged on the door and shouted, “Ulrich, let me in already! It’s bedtime and I’m trying to sleep like a normal person!” His commotion got so loud that Jeremie came out of his room to try and figure out what was happening.

“Odd? What on Earth are you doing making that much noise?”

Deadpanning, Odd looked at Jeremie and said, “Well, Einstein, I’m just sitting in the hall practicing trying to break into a building. What do you think I’m doing!? Ulrich locked me out of our room and I don’t have my key on me.”

Jeremie ignored Odd’s sarcasm, as well as the ever-present fact that Odd didn’t have his dorm key, and said, “Why? Is he still sulking because of that dumb argument he had with Aelita?”

Despite not wanting to out what he saw between Ulrich and William, Odd’s inability to lie effectively started to shine through. He started fidgeting with his hands and said, “Well, I-uh, of course not! It was just-”

As Jeremie narrowed his eyes in suspicion, Ulrich realized what a terrible mistake it would be to try and make Odd fend for himself like this. He swung the door open and impatiently said, “Odd, I’ll let you in. _But._ I swear if you say _anything_ after this door closes, I’ll-”

Odd obviously wasted no time yelling and rushing into the room, before jumping onto his bed, nearly knocking Kiwi off in the process. Jeremie raised his hand to through the doorway to ask Ulrich some questions, but Ulrich just closed the door on him and laid back down. The ensuing awkward quietness was deafening to the point that the only source of sound was Kiwi trying to get comfortable after he was thrashed around by Odd.

As Odd was laying down, he turned his head and looked over at Ulrich, a very small grin appearing on his face. “So, William, huh?”

“ _ODD!_ ”


End file.
